Starting quarterback Thaddeus Lewis didn't practice Tuesday, starting running back Clifford Harris will be sidelined with a broken arm Saturday and the real starting running back, Re'quan Boyette, has missed all season with a broken leg. Duke's wide receiving corps has been subject to change almost every week, and its four-member secondary could be composed of two backups at Virginia Tech.
Three weeks ago, head coach David Cutcliffe welcomed his team to November, the month that he said would define the Blue Devils. So far, it has only managed to injure them.
An 0-3 November record has turned the once-surging Blue Devils into a reeling squad seemingly destined for the bottom of the ACC again.
But it has also battered more than just Duke's bowl chances.
"Every team has injuries-it's just the course of the season," offensive tackle Kyle Hill said. "Especially toward the end of the season, people get bumps and bruises. Every team goes through the same thing."
Duke might feel their effect more acutely than others, though, because more of its skill players have been hindered with injuries.
Lewis left Duke's 31-7 loss to Clemson Saturday in the first quarter with a foot sprain. He will be listed as day-to-day until Duke releases its injury report Thursday, but the starting play caller did not practice Tuesday, and much of Cutcliffe's Tuesday press conference was devoted to questions about his backup, Zack Asack.
Cutcliffe announced that Harris, the team's leading rusher who emerged as the starter when Boyette went down in the summer, will be out of Saturday's game, but could return for the Blue Devils' regular season finale against North Carolina Oct. 29.
Five of Duke's top wide receivers-Eron Riley, Austin Kelly, Raphael Chestnut, Johnny Williams and Donovan Varner-have all been hampered by some sort of ailment this year. All but Riley have missed at least one game, even though the entire stable is relatively healthy now.
Duke announced that cornerback Leon Wright would miss the rest of the season Oct. 30 after the junior re-aggravated a left hamstring injury. Cornerback Jabari Marshall is also day-to-day, and defensive end Wesley Oglesby has missed three of the last four games with a leg injury.
Getting nicked up and worn down at the end of the season is natural for a college football player, but the injury bug that has bitten Duke has been on the severe side.
"We've always had guys beat up," said Asack, who would start if Lewis is unable to play Saturday. "But in one game with a lot of our starters being hurt and getting hurt-I don't think I've seen it in a long time. Guys have been playing their butts off, so you kind of expect it the way they've been playing, but it's unfortunate."
And it doesn't help that the teeth of the Blue Devils' schedule was reserved for the end of November.
Clemson, Virginia Tech and North Carolina were billed as three of the ACC's top four teams at the beginning of the season, and while none of those teams are in first place in the topsy-turvy league, their talent base and athletic play is still mostly superior to Duke's.
Add in the fact that the Blue Devils haven't had a bye week since Oct. 11, and the injuries and lack of chance to recover starts to result in more lopsided losses.
"It was like the ACC said, 'We're going to put you through a test your first year,'" Cutcliffe said of his team's slate. "We play seven games in a row to end the year, five of those are in November and all five of them are big, critical ACC games. We could've used an open date somewhere along the way, but we didn't get that, didn't draw that card. We just have to play with what we've got."
Which, right now, is less than what Duke had in August.
And just as Asack was forced to fill in on one tackle's notice Saturday, more of Duke's backups have been called on to replace ailing starters as the season has progressed. It gives credence to Cutcliffe's telling his reserves that they need to be ready, but it's still not ideal.
Cutcliffe said he won't burn any redshirts by inserting players who haven't seen the field yet-the most relevant case being that of highly touted quarterback Sean Renfree. Now, in addition to preparing for a win, he has to hope the Blue Devils remain as healthy as they are against the Hokies and Tar Heels, because the list of replacements is thinning by the game.
"I try to keep it away from my brain," safety Glenn Williams said of the possibility of going down with an injury. "It's just a part of college football-you take the good with the bad."
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